An EDA AI Master Class by Synopsys CEO Aart de Geus

An EDA AI Master Class by Synopsys CEO Aart de Geus
by Daniel Nenni on 08-19-2022 at 8:00 am

Aart de Geus White House

I consider Dr. Aart de Geus one of the founding fathers of EDA and one of the most interesting people in the semiconductor industry. So it is not a surprise that Aart was chosen to attend the CHIPs Act signing at the White House.

Here is his current corporate bio:

Since co-founding Synopsys in 1986, Dr. Aart de Geus has expanded Synopsys… Read More


The Uncertain Phase Shifts of EUV Masks

The Uncertain Phase Shifts of EUV Masks
by Fred Chen on 05-13-2020 at 10:00 am

The Uncertain Phase Shifts of EUV Masks

EUV (Extreme UltraViolet) lithography has received attention within the semiconductor industry since its development inception in 1997 with the formation of the EUV LLC [1], and more recently, since the 7nm node began, with limited use by Samsung and TSMC being touted as key advantages [2, 3]. As with any key critical technology,

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Live from the TSMC Earnings Call!

Live from the TSMC Earnings Call!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-17-2017 at 7:00 am

Last week I was invited to attend the TSMC earnings call at the Shangri-la Hotel in Taipei which was QUITE the experience. I generally listen in on the calls and/or read the transcripts but this was the first one I attended live. I didn’t really know what to expect but I certainly did NOT expect something out of Hollywood. Seriously,… Read More


Moving with Purpose for Certainty

Moving with Purpose for Certainty
by Pawan Fangaria on 11-01-2015 at 12:00 pm

In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain towards west on Atlantic Ocean in search of Asia and Indies. Between his four voyages (1492 – 1502) he discovered many different islands and then what we call Americas. Although he had a compass with him, imagine searching a needle in a haystack. Even with localization of areas and then… Read More


Replacing the British Museum Algorithm

Replacing the British Museum Algorithm
by Paul McLellan on 09-14-2015 at 7:00 am

In principle, one way to address variation is to do simulations at lots of PVT corners. In practice, most of this simulation is wasted since it adds no new information, and even so, important corners will get missed. This is what Sifuei Ku of Microsemi calls the British Museum Algorithm. You walk everywhere. And if you don’t walk to… Read More


Wow: Synopsys v. Mentor Update!

Wow: Synopsys v. Mentor Update!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-22-2015 at 7:00 am

As a reminder, the Synopsys v. Mentor drama started when Synopsys filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief on the same day (September 27, 2012) as they entered into an agreement to acquire emulation provider EVE (ZeBu emulator systems), which competes with Mentor’s Veloce family of emulators. Apparently, upon… Read More


Earnings Calls: Behind the Scenes

Earnings Calls: Behind the Scenes
by Paul McLellan on 02-19-2015 at 7:00 am

Last weekend I wrote about the Applied Materials earnings call. And over the last couple of years I’ve written about lots of other earnings calls. Most people have never been on an earnings call, I mean in the conference room where the call is being conducted, not just listening. So I thought it might be interesting to describe how … Read More


Altera Back to TSMC at 10nm? Xilinx Staying There

Altera Back to TSMC at 10nm? Xilinx Staying There
by Paul McLellan on 01-28-2015 at 7:00 am

Xilinx announced their quarterly results last week. They slightly missed their number due mainly to a decline in wireless sales. Of course Xilinx parts don’t go in the smartphones since the cost and power are too high, but they are very heavily used in basestation, backhaul etc especially in China. Xilinx’s business… Read More


No IoT No Justice!

No IoT No Justice!
by Daniel Nenni on 12-03-2014 at 9:00 am

It looks like even President Obama is on the IoT bandwagon now with his $263M in matching funds for state and local police body cameras and training. It is a shame that it took a tragic event to spur this type of Government investment in semiconductor technology but I appreciate it just the same.

As I have mentioned before, when I read… Read More


Samsung 14nm is the one delayed!

Samsung 14nm is the one delayed!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-05-2014 at 6:00 am

As you may have read, the CEO of Ultratech made some unfortunate statements on the recent quarterly conference call in regards to FinFET Yield. As a result there has been a lot of speculation about the who, what, and why. I blogged about it because it interested me personally plus I wanted to collect more data on the subject. Some of … Read More